USC Football Rumors: Lincoln Riley Reportedly Eyeing NFL Head Coaching Jobs

Could Riley bounce after just two years with the Trojans?

Even though USC sits currently with a 6-1 record, this season has had more than a few twists and turns, if you really want to look under the hood. 

The defense -- which has struggled all year long -- has been a big point of contention for the fan base. Head coach Lincoln Riley has constantly been asked about the unit's lack of production and effectiveness all year long. In the blowout loss to Notre Dame this past weekend, Riley was even questioned about his skill players and their reported inability to garner separation from the Fighting Irish's defensive backs. 

The fan base also seems cagey over what looks like a gauntlet of a remaining schedule. The Trojans play a ranked Utah team this weekend and still will have to play versus Washington and UCLA at home, and against Oregon on the road. 

Now, amidst all of that, we may have been given the juiciest nugget of controversy Wednesday morning.  

Dan Patrick is reporting that Lincoln Riley is putting out feelers for an NFL job next year.. Wants to follow Caleb to the NFL 👀

— CFB fight Club (@PacFight) October 18, 2023

Famed media personality Dan Patrick spoke about a report on his show Wednesday morning which indicated that Riley could be looking to leave Los Angeles in favor of an NFL job. This would understandably be a massive blow to the program considering Riley's been in LA for only two years. 

Specifically, the report Patrick referenced came via InsideUSC with Scott Wolf. 

In a blog entry Wednesday morning, Wolf broke down his report on USC's head coach: 

"In NFL coaching circles, the talk is that Lincoln Riley is putting out feelers about taking a job in the NFL next season. To be clear, this chatter was going around last week and has nothing to do with USC’s loss to Notre Dame. The word is Riley would be open to an NFL job if he could follow Caleb Williams to the same franchise. If the Chicago Bears had the No. 1 pick, it would probably [be] ideal for this theory."

- Scott Wolf per InsideUSC

Wolf also adds some speculation as to a potential scenario for Riley and Williams: 

"The other part of the theory is that an NFL team would tell Riley who to hire, especially on the defensive staff, to avoid some of the pratfalls that have happened in college. If Riley is serious about wanting to coach only 10 more years, it makes sense that he would go to the NFL sooner than later."

- Wolf per InsideUSC

For fans of the program, there's plenty to digest here. Surely, USC would not want to start over in terms of having to find another head coach just two years after luring Riley over from Oklahoma. Additionally, the optics would not be great for the program to lose Riley right before the big move to the Big Ten. 

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